Chapter 12 Automatic Data Capture

Introduction
The term automatic data capture ADC, also known as automatic identification and data capture AIDC, refers to the technologies that provide direct entry of data into a computer or other microprocessor controlled system without using a keyboard. Automatic identification systems are being used increasingly to collect data in material handling and manufacturing applications. In material handling, the applications include shipping and receiving, storage, sortation, Order picking and kitting of parts for assembly. In manufacturing, the applications include monitoring the status of order processing, work in process, machine utilization, worker attendance and other measure of factory operations and performance. The AIDC is upper hand over Manual Data Handling due to factors like Error, Time factor and Labor cost.

Overview of Automatic Identification Methods

Three principal components comprise Automatic Identification technologies: a. Encoded data b. Machine reader or scanner c. Decoder They are described as below: Encoded data: A code is a set of symbols or signals representing alpha numeric characters. When data are encoded, the characters are translated into a machine readable code. For most ADC techniques, the encoded data are not readable by humans. A label or tag containing the encoded data is attached to item that is to be later identified. Machine reader or scanner: This device reads the encoded data, converting them to alternative form, usually an electrical analog signal. Decoder: This component transforms the electrical signal into digital data and finally back into the original alphanumeric characters.

Categories of Automatic Data Collection Technologies

It can be divided into 6 categories, namely: a. Optical b. Magnetic c. Electromagnetic d. Smart card e. Touch technique f. Biometric Page 1

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Most widely used ADC methods in factory (Descending Order)

a. Bar codes b. Radio frequency methods c. Magnetic stripe d. Optical character recognition e. Machine vision

Bar Codes
Bar codes include two basic forms: One dimensional and Two dimensional

Most common application of ADC technologies

a. Receiving b. Shipping c. Order picking d. Finished goods storage e. Manufacturing process f. Work in process storage

g. Assembly h. Sortation

Errors in ADC technologies

There are two parameters to read errors: a. First Read Rate (FRR): Probability of successful reading at the first attempt b. Substitution Error Rate (SER): Probability of reading one encoded character as the other (substitute). In a given set of encoded data containing n characters, the expected number of errors= SER x n

Bar Code technology

Bar codes include two basic forms: a. One dimensional or linear and b. Two dimensional They are described as below: Linear or One Dimensional Bar Codes Encoded data are read as a linear sweep of the scanner. There are two forms of Linear Bar Codes: Term Paper by 0413082027/CIM/IPE 6210 Page 2

1. Width modulated: Bar codes consist of bars of varying width and spaces. The pattern of bars and spaces is coded to represent numeric or alphanumeric characters. 2. Height modulated: Bar codes consist of bars of evenly spaced bars of varying heights as used in US postal service for identification of Zip Code.

Figure: Width Modulated Figure: Height Modulated Bar code readers interpret the code by scanning and decoding the sequence of bars. The reader consists of the scanner and decoder. The scanner emits a beam of light that is swept past the bar code (either manually or automatically) and senses light reflections to distinguish between the bars and spaces. The light reflections are sensed by a photodetctor which converts the spaces into an electrical signal and the bars into an absence of electrical signal. The width of the bars and spaces is indicated by the duration of the corresponding signals.

Figure: Conversion of barcode into a pulse train of electrical signal The decoder analyzes the pulse train to validate and interpret the corresponding data.

Some widely used linear bar code The Bar Code symbol
The bar code standard adopted by the automotive industry, the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration and many other manufacturing industries is Code 39, also known as AIM USD 2 (Automatic Identification Manufacturers Uniform Symbol Description 2), although this is actually a subset of Code 39. The wide elements are equivalent to a binary value of one and the narrow elements are equal to zero. The width of the wide bars and spaces is between 2 to 3 times of the width of the narrow bars and spaces. More importantly, the width of an element must remain the same throughout the code to enable the scanner to consistently interpret the resulting pulse train. The reason for the name Code 39 is that 9 elements are used in each character and 3 of the elements are wide.

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Figure: Code 39

The placement of wide spaces and bars in the code is what uniquely designates the character. Each code begins and ends with either a wide or narrow bar. The code is sometimes referred to as code three of nine. In addition, there must also be a so called quiet zone both preceding and following the bar code, in which there is no printing that might confuse the decoder.

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Bar Code Readers

They are usually of 2 types: Contact and Non-contact bar code which are described as below: 1. Contact Bar Code Readers: Contact bar code readers are hand held & needed to be kept in contact with the bar code surface or in a very close proximity to enable the scanner to read the code. These are battery powered and can be carried by worker to use it at different locations of a factory. They are used especially in the product terminals. 2. Non contact Bar Code Readers: Non Contact Bar Code Readers focus a light beam on the bar code and a photodetector reads the reflected signal to interpret the code. The reader probe is located at a distance from the bar code (several inches to several feet) during the read procedure. Non contact Bar Code Readers are classified as Fixed Beam and Moving Beam scanners. Fixed Beam scanners are stationary units that use a fixed beam of light. They are usually mounted beside a conveyor and depend on the movement of the bar code past the light beam for their operation. Typically they are used in ware housing and material handling. On the other hand, moving beam scanners use a highly focused beam of light, actuated by a rotating mirror to traverse an angular sweep in search of the bar code on the object. Lasers are often used to achieve the highly focused beam. So, a scan is defined as a single sweep of the light beam through the angular path. The high rotational speed of the mirror allows for very high scan rates of up to 1440 scans/ second. Moving beam scanners can also be of Fixed and Portable type.

Figure: Non contact scanner

Bar Code Printers

In many bar code applications, the labels are printed in medium to large quantities for product packages and the cartons used to ship the packaged products. There preprinted bar codes are usually produced off site by companies specializing in these operations. The labels are printed in either identical or sequenced symbols. Printing technologies include traditional techniques such as 1. Letterpress, 2. Offset lithography, and 3. Flexographic printing. Bar codes can also be printed on site by methods in which the process is controlled by microprocessor to achieve individualized printing of the bar coded document or item label. These applications tend to require

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multiple printers distributed at locations where they are needed. The printing technologies used in these applications include: 1. Dot matrix, 2. Ink jet 3. Direct thermal 4. Thermal transfer and 5. Laser printing

They are described as below: Dot matrix: In this technique the bars and spaces are printed by overlapping the dots to form wide or narrow bands. Dot matrix is a low cost technique, but the quality of the printed bars depends on the degree of overlap. In addition, there is a lower limit on the size of the bar code. Ink jet: Like dot matrix, the ink jet bars are formed by overlapping dots, but the dots are made by ink droplets. Recent advances in ink jet technology, motivated by the personal computer market, have improved the resolution of ink jet printing, and so bar codes of higher density than dot matrix bars are possible at relatively low cost. Direct thermal: In this technique, light colored paper labels are coated with a heat sensitive chemical that darkens when heated. The printing head of the thermal printer consists of a linear array of small heating elements that heat localized areas of the label as it moves past the head, causing the desired bar code image to be formed. Bar codes by direct thermal printing are of good quality and the cost is low. Care must be taken with the printed label to avoid prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures and ultraviolet light. Thermal transfer: This technology is similar to direct thermal printing, except that the thermal printing head is in contact with a special ink ribbon that transfers its ink to the moving label in localized areas when heated, Unlike direct thermal printing, plain (uncoated) paper can be used, and so the concerns about the ambient temperature and ultraviolet light do not apply. The disadvantage is that the thermally activated ink ribbon is consumed in printing process and must be periodically replaced. Laser printing: Laser printing is the technology that is widely used in printers for personal computers. In laser printing, the bar code image is written onto a photosensitive surface usually a rotating drum which is controllable by laser and causes electrostatic charge onto those specific regions. Those areas are then attracted by the toner particles and hence the image is then printed. That printed image can be cured by heat and pressure. High quality bar codes can be printed by this technique. In addition, a laser etching process can be used to mark bar codes onto metal parts. The process provides a permanent identification mark on the item that is not susceptible to damage in the harsh environments that are encountered in many manufacturing processes. Other processes are also used to form permanent 3D bar codes on parts, including molding, casting, engraving and embossing. Special 3D scanners are required to read those codes.

Two Dimensional Bar Codes

The first 2D bar code was first introduced in 1987. Since then, more than a dozen 2D symbol schemes have been developed and the number is expected to increase. The advantage of 2D codes is their capacity to store much greater amounts of data at higher area densities. Their disadvantage is that special scanning Term Paper by 0413082027/CIM/IPE 6210 Page 6

equipment is required to read the codes and the equipment is more expensive than scanners used for conventional bar codes. 2D bar codes can be divided into 2 basic types such as: 1. Stacked bar codes and 2. Matrix symbologies They are described as below: Stacked bar codes: The first 2D bar code to be introduced was a stacked symbology. It was developed in an effort to reduce the area required for a conventional bar code. But its real advantage is that it can contain significantly greater amounts of data. A stacked bar code consists of multiple rows of conventional linear bar codes stacked on top of each other. Several stacking schemes have been devised over the years, nearly all of which allow for multiple rows and variations in the number of encoded characters possible. Several of the stacked bar code systems are listed and compared in the following table: Symbology Code 49 Code 16K PDF 417 Code One DataMatrix MaxiCode Type Stacked Stacked Stacked Matrix Matrix Matrix Date 1987 (Intermec) 1988 (T. Williams) 1990 (Symbol Technology) 1992 ( T. Williams) 1989 ( Priddy & Cymbalski) 1992 (UPS) Relative Data Density 5.8 5.8 7.2 30 21 1.5

The technical problems encountered in reading a stacked bar code include: 1. Keeping track of the different rows during scanning 2. Dealing with scanning swaths that cross between rows 3. Detecting and correcting localized errors 4. As in linear bar codes, printing defects in the 2D bar codes are also a problem.

Figure: A 2D stacked bar code Matrix symbologies: A matrix symbology consist of 2D patterns of data cells that are usually square and are colored dark (usually black) or white. The 2D matrix symbologies were introduced around 1990, and several of the more common symbologies are listed in the following table. Their advantage over stacked bar codes is that they are more complicated, which requires more sophisticated printing and reading equipment. The symbols must be produced and interpreted both horizontally and vertically; therefore, they sometimes referred to as area symbologies.

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Figure: A 2D Matrix Barcode

Other ADC Technologies

Radio Frequency Identification: Of the alternative ADC technologies, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) represents the biggest challenge to the predominance of bar codes. In addition, radio frequency (RF) technology is widely used to augment bar code identification (and other ADC techniques) by providing the communication link between remote bar code readers and some central terminal. This latter application is called radio frequency data communications (RFDC) as distinguished from RFID. One of the initial uses of RFID was for tracking railway cargo. In this application, the term tag may be misleading, because a brick sized container was used to house the electronics for data storage and RF communications. Subsequent applications use tags available in a variety of different forms, such as credit card sized plastic labels for product identification and very small glass capsules injected into wild animals for tracking and research purposes. Advantages of RFID include: 1. Identification does not depend on physical contact or direct line of sight observation by the reader, 2. Much more data can be contained in the identification tag that with most ADC technologies & 3. Data in the read/ write tags can be altered for historical usage purposes or rescue of the tag. Disadvantage of RFID: The hardware tends to be more expensive than other ADC technologies. Magnetic Stripes: Magnetic stripes attached to the product or containers are used for item identification in factory and warehouse applications. A magnetic stripe is a thin plastic film containing small magnetic particles whose pole orientations can be used to encode bits of data into the film. The film can be encased in or attached to a plastic card or paper ticket for automatic identification. These are the same kind of magnetic stripes used to encode data into the film. They are widely used in bank credit, debit and access card. Disadvantages of magnetic stripes are: 1. The magnetic stripe must be in contact with the scanning equipment for reading to be accomplished 2. Unavailability of convenient shop floor encoding methods to write data into the stripe 3. The magnetic stripe labels are more expensive than bar code labels Advantages of magnetic stripes are: 1. Large data storage capacity and 2. Ability to alter the contained data in them.

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Optical Character Recognition (OCR): Optical character recognition (OCR) refers to the use of specially designed alphanumeric characters that are machine readable by an optical reading device. Optical character recognition is a 2D symbology, and scanning involves interpretation of both the vertical and horizontal features of each character during decoding. Disadvantages of OCRs are: 1. The requirement for near contact scanning 2. Lower scanning rates and 3. Higher error rates compared to bar code scanning. Machine Vision: The principal application of machine vision currently is for automated inspection tasks. For ADC applications, machine vision systems are required to read 2D matrix symbols such as Data Matrix and they can also be used for stacked bar codes such as PDF 417. Machine vision systems are capable of distinguishing between a limited variety of products moving down a conveyor so that products can be sorted. The recognition by the machine vision system is based on the inherent geometric features of the object.

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Terms used
ADC AIDC AIM RFID AIM USA OCR FRR SER SOS Morse code UPC DOD Quite Zone 3D 2D RF RFDC NRMA

Reference
1. Automation Production Systems, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Mikell P. Groover, 2nd Edition;

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